"Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual)." (Ayn Rand)

"Majority rule only works if you're also considering individual rights. Because you can't have five wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for supper." (Larry Flynt)

"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the 'Universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." (Albert Einstein)

The US Central Intelligence Agency has acknowledged it "lacked specific information" about alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction when it compiled an intelligence estimate last year that served to justify the US-led invasion of Iraq. But it said that and other uncertainties surrounding the case had been fully presented to President George W. Bush

Iraqi Leaders Say U.S. Was Warned of Disorder After Hussein, but Little Was Done :

The exiles were among the most energetic cheerleaders for the war, and critics of the Bush administration have accused some of them of skewing the facts in the process. But more than a dozen of the leaders who have returned to Iraq said in interviews here that they had also warned about the chaos that could follow.

The guerrilla war in Iraq has moved steadily beyond the so-called Sunni Triangle and into areas of the country once considered peaceful, a potentially ominous development for security forces trying to restore order in the country.

The top U.S. military official in Iraq said Saturday that the United States is boosting the number of infantry and moving from a force based on tanks and heavy armored vehicles to one specializing in urban raids.

Our expensive killing machines are winning more recruits for extremists determined to push radical agendas by inspiring victims to avenge their dead. People worldwide are not clueless about how the profits of those running the military/industrial complex are swelling.

They have to psyche themselves up for the kill. They have to believe that flying off to some tiny, remote desert town in Iraq where they will march in front of someone's house and kill poor young Iraqis has some greater meaning besides cold-blooded murder.

The confession by Moazzam Begg, 35, one of nine Britons being held at the US base in Cuba, was disclosed to The Independent on Sunday by his lawyer, who says it was obtained under duress and is completely implausible.

Leading Republican Sen. John McCain on Sunday berated fellow lawmakers for "spending money like a drunken sailor" and said President Bush was also to blame for pushing the nation toward higher interest rates and inflation.

City passing the hat to help statue reopen. While the federal government doles out millions of dollars in homeland security funds to out-of-harm's way states such as Wyoming and North Dakota, it hasn't forked over enough dough to reopen the nation's most enduring symbol of freedom.

A story regarding the conflict in Northern Ireland, why veteran IRA member and retired taxi driver Franciso Notarantonio was assassinated on October 9, 1987, and how the troubles caused by Captain Simon Hayward aka Captain James Rennie, 'Steak Knife' aka Padraic Wilson, the UDA's Britain Nelson, and the Army's Force Research Unit caused U-turns by Thatcher which led to her overthrow.

The general's upbeat views will surprise critics of the occupation, not least because he delivered them at the end of the deadliest month for the 130,000 American troops in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March.

Bush is fond of saying that America did not spend so much in men and materiel to liberate 25 million Iraqis only to succumb to a ragbag of insurgents. Yet it looks as if that is exactly what is happening.

I watched, as I am sure did most of you, the little skit set up for President Bush this Thanksgiving in Baghdad. We are told that this shabby little sketch was meant to raise the morale of US troops in Iraq. If that is so, then their morale must really have hit rock bottom.

U.S. Says Iraqi Police May Have Coordinated Attacks on G.I.s: :
There is no evidence that al-Qaida terrorists have taken part in the long string of attacks on U.S. or Iraqi targets, but some U.S.-trained Iraqi police appear to have coordinated some of those assaults, the top U.S. military official in Iraq said Saturday.

Toll on U.S. troops in Iraq grows as wounded rolls approach 10,000:
Nearly 10,000 U.S. troops have been killed, wounded, injured or become ill enough to require evacuation from Iraq since the war began, the equivalent of almost one Army division, according to the Pentagon.

The Pentagons Death And Deception:
In Iraq War I, 24% of soldiers wounded in combat later died of their wounds. In Iraq War II the reported death rate is 0.37%. Are flak vests and medical facilities really that much better now or is the Pentagon lying through its teeth as it has so often before?

Spanish Intelligence Team Attacked in Iraq :
An eight-member team from Spain's National Intelligence Center was attacked on Saturday south of Baghdad as they returned from a mission, the Spanish defense ministry said.

White House assertion of terror network in Iraq may undermine own case for war:
"Militarily, their statements are almost absurd," said Anthony Cordesman, a national security and military intelligence expert for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "There is no evidence of activity  by extremist terrorist groups affiliated with al-Qaida."

Under attack by the FBI :
Senator Edward Kennedy was hardly exaggerating when he told ABC's "This Week" that the FBI memo recalled the worst abuses of the Nixon years. "It is absolutely outrageous in terms of what this country is about," Kennedy said.

The dossier builders:
A Republican television campaign ad in Iowa charges that "some" are now attacking President Bush for attacking terrorists. Put alongside an FBI memo to law enforcement officials instructing them to monitor anti-war protesters, the ad raises the disturbing possibility that people attending straightforward Democratic political rallies will become the subjects of FBI information-collecting actions.

The IRS Claims New Patriot Act Type Powers to Punish Political Dissenters:
In a precendent-setting case, the IRS wielded new power to punish the political speech of those who espouse views" the government considers "inconsistent" with government-held beliefs.

Bush's Operation Clean Sweep :World War IV in 2004:
The Pentagon has its own domestic intelligence service that has begun working with the FBI who, in turn, is ramping up its efforts to build databases of Americans who oppose the Bush PCS machine. Even local police, like the Miami Police Department, have become tools of the hideous juggernaut that has been created by the powerful and paranoid of the land.

Rise of the American KGB:
The law, if enacted, would be the greatest single expansion of the federal government's power to collect and use DNA since the FBI's national database was created in 1992. The FBI says its national DNA database holds genetic profiles from about 1.4 million adults convicted of state and federal crimes.

A Prisoner Of Panic After 9/11 :
An Algerian air force lieutenant with an expired visa has spent the past 26 months in federal prisons, much of that time in solitary confinement -- even though the FBI formally concluded in November 2001 that he had no connection to terrorism.

Billionaire Soros stakes fortune on - defeating George Bush:
George Soros has donated almost $5bn (£3bn) over the years to help emerging democracies in Eastern Europe recover from the shadow of tyranny. Now he is applying the same principles, and a large chunk of his fortune, to the United States.

Palestinian PM rules out Sharon talks:
"If the Israeli government says it will continue building the wall regardless of what happens then there is no need for any meeting or talks to take place," Mr Qurie told reporters

Arafat cannot be sidelined in Middle East process, says former EU envoy:
"He is not only a leader who was democratically elected in 1996, he is also head of the nationalist Palestinian movement," he said.

Roots Of Muslim Antipathy Driven Home By White House Comments:
For the past two years, Americans - and their president - have been asking the question, "Why do they hate us?" But they have not wanted to hear the answer, which lies, in part, in the blood-soaked soil of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Zionists On Our Payroll:
The Zionist's "Eretz Israel" , supposedly promised by Abraham, is the Jewish synonym for Hitler's "lebensraum" , while the term "Chosen People" ,which explains the apartheid character of Israel today, resembles the Nazis' ideal of a "Pure Aryan Race"

UN Assembly Votes Palestine Partition: Margin Is 33 To 13, Arabs Walk Out:
The United Nations General Assembly approved yesterday a proposal to partition Palestine into two states, one Arab and the other Jewish, that are to become fully independent by Oct.1, 1947

US soldier killed, Clinton visits Baghdad:
A US soldier was killed in a mortar attack on a base in northern Iraq, as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton visited US troops in Baghdad on the heels of a surprise visit by US President George W Bush.

911 Victim's Wife Files RICO Case Against GW Bush:
Plaintiff believes the facts, circumstances and substantial evidence once presented to a jury will ultimately establish Defendants allowed the "911" attacks to occur to create an "IWOT" for malicious personal agendas, to include, but not limited to war rofiteering.

3 ex-officers challenging detentions at Guantanamo Bay:
In a case the U.S. Supreme Court will soon consider, three former high-ranking officers have played a key role in arguing against the indefinite detention of suspected terrorists on the Navy base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Police link 2 shootings on stretch of Ohio freeway:
Authorities said for the first time Friday they had linked Knisley's death to at least one of nine other reports of shots fired at vehicles along about an eight-kilometre stretch of the same highway - and they said the shooting was not an accident.

Liberty can not be preserved without general knowledge among people." (August 1765) John Adams

Date: 28 Nov 2003 19:36:12 -0000

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." (Albert Einstein)

"Freedom of press is limited to those who own one." (Henry Louis Mencken)

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined." (Patrick Henry)

"He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself." (Thomas Paine)

Two US troops killed in Iraq:
An American soldier died when Iraqi fighters shelled a military base in the northern city of Mosul on Friday. Another soldier died Thursday from a gunshot wound inside the heavily fortified base in Ramadi, 100 kilometers west of Baghdad. More than 60 U.S. soldiers were killed in attacks during November

US convoy attacked; Iraqi police official killed
As American soldiers in Iraq celebrated Thanksgiving and remembered their fallen comrades, violence in the war-torn country continued yesterday as a U.S. convoy was attacked and an Iraqi police official was shot to death.

Hearts and Minds - US style:
"Actually, I see 'hearts and minds' as a tactical doctrine. To me, it means that's where we should aim first," said Craig. " Shoot them in the body or in the head, but just make sure you shoot them first."

CIA Seeks Guns-For-Hire in Terror Fight:
The recent deaths of two paramilitary operatives tracking terrorists in Afghanistan opened a small window into one of the CIA's secret methods in fighting the war on terror: using guns-for-hire.

No Time For "Told You So":
"When war machines move into gear," I said, "ordinary people die in mass, rich people get richer, politicians restrict civil liberties, and reactionaries ride high. The events of September 11,th" I added, "are a great gift to the nationalist right wing in this country. Unless checked by an aroused citizenry, they will lead to significant reductions in American civil liberties.

And Now Talk Of Dividing Iraq To "Weaken The Sunnis"!:
Officially, the U.S. administration opposes the division of Iraq and asserts the importance of its territorial unity, just like the other previous administrations. However, there is a clear contradiction between the official government stances and the decision-makers in the Bush administration and those individuals enjoying power and influence over this administration.

The 'Clean Break' Plan: Implications for US Middle East Policy :
A Clean Break recommended toppling the government of Iraq, "rolling back" Syria and Iran, and "electrifying" support for Israel in the US Congress in exchange for new missile defense contract opportunities. Three of the eight authors are, Richard Perle, the former chair and a current member of the Defense Policy Board of the Pentagon. Douglas Feith is Undersecretary of Defense and David Wurmser is Vice President Richard Cheney's recently hired Middle East advisor.

911 Victims Open Letter To The President Of The United States:
In the court of public opinion Mr. Bush, your lies are being uncovered each day. My husband, all of the other victims and their families and our nation as a whole, has been victimized by your failed leadership prior to and after 9/11!

How British charity was silenced on Iraq :
Internal emails reveal how Save the Children UK came under enormous pressure after it accused coalition forces of breaching the Geneva convention by blocking humanitarian aid.

George Soros adds his weight to the case against the dollar:
Soros, the man who broke the Bank of England, has taken some sizable short positions in the greenback. Unsurprisingly, Mr Soros won't say, but you don't have to be a currency speculator as accomplished as Mr Soros to realise the dollar is a one-way bet right now.

Bush OK's New Nuke:
Among the many items tucked away in the $401 billion defense authorization act was a $15 million three-year research project by the Energy and Defense departments to create the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator. The legislation repeals a decade-old ban on research into low-yield nuclear weapons.

The booby trap that exploded under an Army truck near Tikrit, Iraq, on Aug. 22 nearly cost Sgt. Tyler Hall his life and has left the 22-year-old soldier without his left leg. Then last month, his paycheck stopped coming.

Troop Families Going on Iraq Peace Mission :
``What we have in common is that we think that the Bush administration has got us into quite a mess in Iraq and we want to help find a solution that will both be positive for the U.S. troops and the Iraqis,'' Benjamin said.

Al Gore faces fight in bid for CBC-founded NWI:
Former U.S. presidential contender Gore, wants to acquire NWI and revamp into a liberal, edgy, youth-attracting alternative to the all-too-conservative American news media.

Welfare Turns Into a Suite Deal:
Under the GOP, corporate titans are lining up for government handouts. The Bush administration and the Republican-led House have taken steps toward providing an unprecedented taxpayer-funded handout to private companies.

Sharon goes back on settlements pledge :
Ariel Sharon has gone back on a personal commitment to George Bush to dismantle illegal Jewish outposts in the West Bank by saying he would allow some to remain for security reasons.

Annan: Israel Violating U.N. Resolution:
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday that Israel is violating a General Assembly resolution to halt construction of barrier that juts into the West Bank and to dismantle the 90-mile section already built.

Israel army warned by UN for shooting at aid workers:
The aid agencies have complained bitterly to Israel about soldiers firing on their relief workers, even when traffic has been co-ordinated in advance.

Israel urged to destroy nuclear arms:
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, wants Israel to dismantle its nuclear weapons arsenal and believes all Middle East nations would benefit from ridding the region of nuclear weapons.

Pentagon Sending More U.S. Marines to Iraq:
The Pentagon will send thousands more Marines to Iraq in early 2004, bolstering the next wave of U.S. troops being deployed amid an increasingly bloody guerrilla war, defense officials said on Wednesday.

Iraq war diverting resources from war on terror, experts say:
A growing number of counter-terrorism experts are challenging President Bush's assertion that Iraq is a major battle in the war against terrorism and are questioning whether the U.S. invasion of Iraq has hurt rather than helped the global battle against al-Qaida and its affiliates.

Iraqi Police Sympathize With Resistance :
Iraqi police say they are underpaid, poorly armed and lack equipment to protect themselves from increasing attacks by insurgents. Frequently branded as collaborators with the U.S. occupation, many police resent the Americans and some even express sympathy for the guerrillas.

Iraq rebuilding cash runs dry:
"It is a tough pill to swallow," Col. Ralph Baker, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Armored Division, told USA Today. "One of the hardest things I deal with right now is coming face to face with the (Iraqi) contractors who we still owe money."

Helen Thomas: Raid On Arab TV Network Hardly A Democratic Move:
Isn't that the first thing dictators do -- shut down broadcast outlets and newspapers? For those in power, tolerating a free press is difficult, even in a democracy.

What has failed in Palestine, will fail in Iraq:
Just as many senior Israeli military officials are openly criticizing their government's tactics in the occupied Palestinian territories, the United States is repeating in Iraq many of Israel's worst mistakes. This will doom efforts to stabilize Iraq and restore its independence.

Israeli Occupying Forces Kill Three Unarmed Palestinians:
In the latest attack on civilians, three Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli soldiers yesterday evening in central Gaza Strip. Contrary to claims made by the Israeli military, the three men, all from the same family, were unarmed and were shot as they drove a car to visit relatives for the Eid holiday.

Hogtied and Abused at Fort Benning:
"What country do we live in?" We now live in a country where Homeland Security funds pay for exercises which train military and police units to control and intimidate crowds, detainees, and arrestees using threat and force.

Blood, Oil, Guns And Bullets :
Weapons production and the maintenance of US military and economic might across the world depends on massive consumption of oil and petroleum. In turn, massive defense and security spending boosts an ailing US economy, and is a boon to the profits of its defense and security corporations.

In case you missed it:
US Remains Leader in Global Arms Sales: The United States was the leader in total worldwide sales in 2002, with about $13.3 billion, or 45.5 percent of global conventional weapons deals, a rise from $12.1 billion in 2001. Of that, $8.6 billion was to developing nations, or about 48.6 percent of conventional arms deals concluded with developing nations last year, according to the report.

Conquest For Fun and Profit:
The people at the Project for a New American Century feel very strongly that the USA should dominate the planet and that any country or group of countries that challenges them, militarily or economically, is a threat that needs to be taken care of.

Bombing Anywhere On Earth In Less Than Two Hours:
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the US Air Force share a vision of a new transformational capability that aims to provide a means of delivering a substantial payload from within the continental United States (CONUS) to anywhere on Earth in less than two hours.

Analysis: Bush pushes global force reform :
President George W. Bush's statement Tuesday pledging to "realign the global posture" of the U.S. military signals the start of one of the most sweeping reassessments of American force structures in more than half a century.

An ATM card under your skin:
Applied Digital Solutions (ADS) of Palm Beach, Fla., is hoping that Americans can be persuaded to implant RFID chips under their skin to identify themselves when going to a cash machine or in place of using a credit card.

Again battling an abomination of power :
Largely unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of politics, a quiet and frail 82-year-old man made a symbolic return to Washington, D.C., this month. His name is Fred Korematsu, Korematsu was sent to internment camps to join 120,000 other Japanese Americans. Recently, Korematsu filed a brief before the court on behalf of hundreds of Muslims being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Expanded Patriot Act Reach Would Hit The Net, Too:
A bill approved by Congress last week to extend the reach of the Patriot Act would expand the FBI's business document and transaction power to cyberspace stations like eBay, Internet logs, and Internet service providers, and without requiring a judge's approval.

The End of American Thanksgivings:
No Halloween of the imagination can rival the exterminationist reality that was the genesis, and remains the legacy, of the American Thanksgiving. It is the most loathsome, humanity-insulting day of the year  a pure glorification of racist barbarity.

Puerto Rican Deaths in Iraq Spark Island Protests:
Residents of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico have been U.S. citizens since 1917, and although they cannot vote for a U.S. president and have no voting representation in the U.S. Congress, a large number of islanders serve in the military.

The Radical Mind of Dick Cheney:
An In-Depth Look at the Vice President: An in-depth look at the historical role Vice President Dick Cheney has played in U.S. foreign policy, his treatment of the intelligence community and his hawkish influence on President George W. Bush. Audio & Transcript.

The Radical Mind of Dick Cheney:
An In-Depth Look at the Vice President: An in-depth look at the historical role Vice President Dick Cheney has played in U.S. foreign policy, his treatment of the intelligence community and his hawkish influence on President George W. Bush. Audio & Transcript.

===

A Must Read

The CIA's Intervention in Afghanistan:
Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski: "According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul." I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention." A Must Read

The Miami Model:
In the times in which we live, this is what democracy looks like. Thousands of soldiers, calling themselves police, deployed in US cities to protect the power brokers from the masses. And damned be the journalist who dares to say it - or film it - like it is.

Gag order leaves troops, reporters speechless:
Before the press was herded into the giant hangar in advance of George W. Bush's pep rally/photo op with the Fort Carson troops, we were given the rules. No talking to the troops before the rally. No talking to the troops during the rally. No talking to the troops after the rally.

Western powers redefine ' democracy' :
Those halcyon days when "democracy" really meant "for the people, by the people" are tragically over in countries which purport to expound this ancient method of governance. In its place comes a system which spies on, categorises, labels and restricts "the people" for the benefit of governments. It's clever though.

'Evidence' for Link Is Administration Ploy:
For those who have watched this pattern, the modus operandi is familiar: Leak to the media or place in speeches intelligence nuggets of questionable value  aluminum tubes, Nigerian uranium, the undocumented Prague meeting  then retreat when pressed.

How occupation can corrupt the occupiers absolutely :
Occupation is, indisputably, an effective tool of corruption. Apart from the large scale destruction inflicted on "the occupied", history has shown that occupation can do a lot more damage on "the occupiers".

US pays up for fatal Iraq blunders :
Families have come forward with accounts of how American soldiers shot dead or seriously wounded unarmed Iraqi civilians with no apparent cause. In many cases their stories are confirmed by Iraqi police investigations.

No regrets or culprits, just cash for series of random killings :
The US military has not punished any soldier for shooting an unarmed civilian and refuses even to keep count of the civilians its soldiers kill.

Military Blames AP for Disputed Iraq 'Mutilation' Story :
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad told E&P Online Tuesday afternoon that he blames the Associated Press for spreading a sensational, and now disputed, story this week about two U.S. soldiers having their throats slashed and bodies mutilated by an angry mob in Iraq.

All governments in all wars have used all the means at their disposal to put their own motives, decisions and actions, and the actions of their military forces, in the best possible light. They have likewise used all the means at their disposal to put the motives, decisions and actions of their opponents and their opponents' military forces in the worst possible light.

Pipeline ablaze north of Baghdad :
Sabotage of pipelines and other infrastructure has become a major problem for the U.S.-run coalition and its Iraqi partners as they try to revive the country's giant petroleum industry the key to economic recovery.

Scott Ritter: "Iraq: A Case Study in the Failure of American Foreign Policy."
"The president says he knows there are chemical weapons in Iraq," Ritter said, "and yet nobody asked, 'How do you know, Mr. President?'

Daily life in Baghdad worse since fall of Saddam: Spanish FM :
Life for the residents of Baghdad is worse now than during Saddam Hussein's regime because of the lack of security in the Iraqi capital, Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio said Monday.

Only 10 percent of Japanese support Iraq troop dispatch:
And an overwhelming majority -- 89 percent -- said they were dissatisfied with the government's explanation of why it has promised to dispatch members of the Self-Defense Force

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul: Conscription- The Terrible Price of War:
To get more troops, the draft will likely be reinstated. The implicit prohibition of "involuntary servitude" under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution has already been ignored many times so few will challenge the constitutionality of the coming draft.

New bill threatens intellectual freedom in area studies:
The 1996 Solomon Amendment, which denies federal funding to institutions of higher learning that refuse to allow military recruiters on campus, once seemed to be the gravest attack by the government on academic freedom.

Bush Lied to the American People about 9/11 Terrorists' Motives: Bush's lie hides from many Americans the fact that we were attacked by Al-Qaeda because of specific foreign polices and not because we are the"brightest beacon of freedom and opportunity"

Paul Krugman: It's fair to be uncivil when liberty is at stake :
There's no nice way to explain how the Bush administration uses cooked numbers to sell its tax cuts, or how its arrogance and gullibility led to the current mess in Iraq.

Scary And Scandalous :
Overall US defence expenditure under Mr Bush is at record levels. It is higher, in relative terms, than equivalent, average American spending during the cold war years when a hostile Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact confronted the US and its allies with thousands of nuclear warheads. Yet Mr Bush suggested that terrorism now represented the most potent threat in the history of the US.

Persistent ISR Would Allow U.S. Military to Function as Strike Force:
The U.S. military must cast an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance net over the world to keep a watchful eye on the current threat  a smart and patient enemy with access to commercial technology, a senior Army official said

Three Hurlburt airmen among five killed in Afghan crash
Three air commandos from this Florida Panhandle base were among five service members killed when an Air Force special operations helicopter crashed last weekend in Afghanistan, military officials said Wednesday.

Business Deals of Bush Brother Detailed in Divorce :
Neil Bush, younger brother of President Bush, detailed lucrative business deals and admitted to engaging in sex romps with women in Asia in a deposition taken in March as part of his divorce from now ex-wife Sharon Bush.

In case you missed it:
Frauds-R-Us: The Bush Family Saga:
George Jr.s specialty was insurance and security fraud. Jeb's specialty was oil and gas fraud. Neils specialty was real estate fraud. Prescotts specialty was banking fraud. And George Sr.s specialty? All of the above." -- Lt. Cmdr. Al Martin, US Navy,(Ret)

Khadr welcome to return, says Canada:
The circumstances surrounding the release and whereabouts of the 20-year-old dual citizen of Egypt and Canada have raised more questions about the treatment of prisoners in the camp, labelled a "monstrous failure of justice" by a senior British judge yesterday.

'Law 'n' Order' : What the state 'giveth', the state can take away
As General Tommy Franks reminded us the other day, democracy is (was?) a "great experiment" and like all 'experiments' it can be abandoned when past its sell-by date, bringing into sharp focus the reality of 'actually existing capitalism', always ready to "impose" its version of 'democracy' on faraway places and it take it away from those closest.

Oregon conspirators attack war on terror, get 18-year jail terms :
"President Bush declared that his war was a crusade, and arrogantly threatened everyone in the world that they must be with him, or against him," "His ultimatum forced every single Muslim to choose the side of his religion or the side of those determined to subjugate it."

Jewish tensions boil over:
The spiritual leader of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas party for Sephardic Jews has accused Ashkenazi Jews of being the source of all evil, according to the Maariv daily on Wednesday.

Israel's contempt for Tom :
If my intelligent, courageous son, Tom, had not been left severely brain damaged by an Israeli soldier, he would have vouched for the fact that I am not prone to speechlessness. Words now fail me.

Is this an attempt to discredit Captain Yousef Yee?:
Guantanamo chaplain charged with porn offences:
A Muslim chaplain who served at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay has been charged with adultery and storing pornography on a government computer.

Rumsfeld: Arab TV 'knew of attacks':
US: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his top military adviser today said they had evidence the Arab television news organisations Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya cooperated with Iraqi insurgents to witness and videotape attacks on American troops. Neither Rumsfeld nor Myers provided details of any evidence.

GUNMEN fire at Palestinian mayor , kill his brother:
Local officials said it was likely Palestinian gunmen carried out the shooting and noted that militants in the West Bank city recently distributed leaflets accusing Shaka of collaborating with Israeli authorities.

George Monbiot : The Moral Myth :
Superpowers act out of self-interest, not morality, and the US in Iraq is no different. Over the past month, almost all the warriors - Bush, Blair and the belligerents in both the conservative and the liberal press - have fallen back on the last line of defence, the argument we know as "the moral case for war".

Iraqi Security Forces Torn Between Loyalties :
In a Sunni Muslim town suspicious of U.S. forces and often the scene of armed opposition, villagers have derided the men of the 3rd Patrol as traitors, pelting them with rocks as their trucks pass.

America's Vulnerable Imperialism:
Without political power, US lacks cement to hold together a far-flung empire. Historically, the political power of empires has depended on the creation of an indigenous force that both was prepared to carry out the commands of the imperial power and was grudgingly tolerated by its own people.

U.S. Seen Making Mistakes of Past Colonizers :
"The main trick of any colonial power in the world is divide and rule. We know it: they are trying to divide us," said Wamid Nazmy, a politics professor at Baghdad University.

Palestinian PM snubs Sharon meeting:
The Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmed Qurie, has delayed a first meeting with his Israeli counterpart, saying that he would not take part in what is nothing more than a "photo opportunity".

Over 800 million go hungry:
The FAO report puts the number of global hungry at 842 million people, citing the most recent available figures, from 1999-2001. It said 10 million were in industrialised countries, 34 million in countries in transition and 798 million in developing countries.

Blasts Hit Baghdad:
"Attack. Take cover. This is not a test," the loudspeaker announcements said, as sirens wailed at the coalition compound in one of Saddam Hussein's former palace complexes on the west bank of the Tigris river in central Baghdad.

The Miami Model:
In the times in which we live, this is what democracy looks like. Thousands of soldiers, calling themselves police, deployed in US cities to protect the power brokers from the masses. And damned be the journalist who dares to say it - or film it - like it is.

The war is coming home:
$8.5-million spent on security during the FTAA meeting came directly out of the $87-billion President Bush extracted from Congress for Iraq last month  a fact barely reported outside of the Miami press.

Sorrows of Empire:
The United States has been inching toward imperialism and militarism for many years. Disguising the direction they were taking, American leaders cloaked their foreign policy in euphemisms such as "lone superpower," "indispensable nation," "reluctant sheriff," "humanitarian intervention," and "globalization."

FBI 'collecting information' about antiwar protestors:
Senator Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts said the story about the FBI showed him that the Bush administration is going to "extraordinary lengths" to attack anyone who disagrees with the Iraq war.

Hoover's Long Shadow:
The release of a confidential FBI memo detailing FBI surveillance of antiwar protesters shows that the FBI is once again in position to quell dissent and disrupt political organizing.

You Can't Come Home Again: Gulag Americana:
An American citizen can't come home, and the U.S. government is working with a foreign country to keep him locked up without a charge, without an attorney, without a trial, and with no hope of returning home.

F.B.I Out Of Control!
As all informed students of government and political science already know, government, "the state," isn't the least bit concerned about protecting its citizens; it is only concerned about protecting itself.

U.S. Wages Media War as Iraq Insurgency Deepens :
In part, the media campaign appears an attempt to convince the public back home and a skeptical press that the occupation is winning results despite evidence of an increasingly sophisticated and well-coordinated guerrilla movement.

The Scorecard:
More than two years after the World Trade Center towers came down and the President declared his "war on terrorism," it seems reasonable to offer a little scorecard on the "war(s)" of choice for this administration. Let's just start with terrorists and allies (as identified by the administration); you know, the ones we were going to get "dead or alive."

Congress shares responsibility for the Iraq war:
The Democrats are right to want to re-examine the actions the administration took before the war. But to be credible and honest, they should also be willing to examine their own complicity -- and that of Congress generally -- in last fall's truncated debate about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

Troops to shift from S. Korea:
The United States will reassign some troops from South Korea to Afghanistan and Iraq and shift most of the 7,000 people in its headquarters in Seoul out of the capital beginning within a year, military officials say.

Sharon charges Mossad with thwarting Iran's nuclear plans :
Sharon held a special meeting on the Iranian nuclear threat on Sunday, deciding that he would personally oversee Israel's efforts to scuttle Iran's plans to produce nuclear weapons.

Fears Iraqi Insurgency Spreading:
U.S. troops opened fire after an explosion near a military convoy Monday in Mosul, as fears grew that the anti-coalition insurgency was spreading north a day after two American soldiers were savagely beaten and killed in the same city.

Leading By Example:
Instead of attending the funeral of just one soldier who gave his or her life serving at your pleasure, you've attended 35 fund-raisers since June, and your vice-president has attended 31.

Why Religious People Support Bush:
The people wanted to believe that Saddam Hussein was involved in the World Trade Center devastation, they wanted to believe that Hussein was connected to al Quaida and bin Laden's terrorism, because these beliefs that provided an outlet for vengeance.

United States Militarism:
Huey Long was reported as saying that fascism could come in the United States, but it ''will have to be called anti-Fascism' and the current militarism has been disguised as a drive to protect freedom, which is precisely what the present administration is about with its Patriot and other Acts.